The present invention relates to a hot-water storage type power generating unit in which medium-temperature water is heated by steam supplied from power generating equipment or exhaust heat from industrial equipment, into hot water which is stored in a tank and then supplied to a power generating system for electric power generation.
As power plants currently in operation rely on more large-scale thermal power generation and nuclear power generation, they are less flexible in power generating capability. The power plants are also facing the problem of an ever-increasing difference between electric power demands during the daytime and the nighttime. With these difficulties in view, there has been a demand for increased peak cut power generation capability.
Industrial plants of the batch process type using an arc furnace, for example, discharge exhaust thermal energy which fluctuates in temperature and flow rate to a large extent and, hence cannot be recovered easily. As an example, the temperature of an arc furnace may vary in a wide range of from higher than 1,000 degrees Celsius to about 300 degrees Celsius within a period of a few tenths of a minute. There is thus a need for a power generation system for converting such fluctuating exhaust heat efficiently into electric power, the electrical power being available at a constant rate.